Discuss

Breakthrough Discuss is an annual academic conference focused on life in the Universe and novel ideas for space exploration.

Breakthrough Discuss 2018

Breakthrough Discuss 2018 (April 12-13), held at Stanford University, was co-hosted by Stanford University's Department of Physics, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and NASA Astrobiology Institute & NASA Ames Research Center. The conference’s three sessions were: Search for Life in our Solar System, chaired by Penelope Boston and Chris McKay; Possibilities for Non-Terran Life in the Universe, chaired by Svetlana Berdyugina and Lisa Kaltenegger; and Progress in Novel Space Propulsion, chaired by Sigrid Close and Zachary Manchester. Watch the conference here.

Breakthrough Discuss 2017

Breakthrough Discuss 2017 (April 20-21) was hosted by Stanford University’s Department of Physics and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and sponsored by the Breakthrough Initiatives. The conference focused on the following three areas: Observations of Proxima b and Habitable Planets Around Nearby Cool Stars, chaired by Oliver Guyon; SETI Observations of Proxima b and Nearby Stars, chaired by Jill Tarter; and Scientific Goals and Instrumentation for a Flyby of the Nearest Stars, chaired by Avi Loeb. Watch the conference here.

Breakthrough Discuss 2016

The inaugural Breakthrough Discuss conference (April 15-16) was hosted by Stanford University’s Department of Physics and sponsored by the Breakthrough Initiatives. The event focused on the following three areas: Optical SETI and the Detectability of Directed Energy Systems, chaired by Jill Tarter; Exo-planet Detection Programs Focused on Alpha Centauri, chaired by Olivier Guyon; and the Sun as a Gravitational Lens, chaired by Avi Loeb. Watch the conference here.